Virtually anyone who has been in a grocery store, a department store, or any other type of business within the last ten years has seen the ubiquitous bar code scanners. Bar code scanners come in basically two types: stationary bar code scanners and hand-held scanners. Both types of scanners operate in basically the same way. Light reflected off of the bar is converted into an electrical signal indicative of the distance between each bar of the bar code. The electrical signal is sent to a processor where it is decoded by comparing it with a known signal indicative of a known bar code.
Although the processor may be contained within the hand-held scanner, it is often the case that the electrical signal must be sent to a processor that is remote from the scanner. To insure that the signal is accurately sent to the remote processor, it is important that the connection to the circuit inside the scanner be a secure one. This can be accomplished is by welding connecting wires directly to the circuit board with the other end of the wires connected directly to the processor. While this might provide a secure connection, the permanence of the connection provides problems of its own. It is often useful to disconnect the bar code scanner from the processor for repair or replacement of the scanner. It may also be useful to use the same scanner with several processors, or to use several scanners with one processor. This requires that the scanner be easily disconnected from the processor without having to re-solder or re-splice the connection.
Prior art scanners suffer the additional problem that they are relatively complicated to assemble. This complication requires the scanners to be assembled by hand. Such hand labor adds time, human error and high labor costs to the assembly, resulting in an expensive product. The cost of the product can be greatly reduced if the components can be assembled by automation.
Given the small confines of a pen-sized scanner, it is unavoidable that the connecting wires used in the circuit are very closely spaced. When wires are so closely spaced a surge of electricity in one wire can cause arcing between wires. Such arcing can cause the scanner to be shorted out and damaged beyond repair.